Many different types of arrows and arrow shafts are used in hunting and sport archery. Arrows conventionally include a hollow arrow shaft (e.g., made from lighter materials such as composite carbon fiber) that are attached to a number of standard components. Such components may include adapters or inserts for attaching points (e.g., field points, broadheads, etc.) at the leading or distal end of the arrow or arrow shaft, and nocks at the trailing or proximal end of the arrow or arrow shaft. Vanes or other fletching are also conventionally secured to the trailing end of the arrow shaft to facilitate proper arrow flight.
In conventional arrow systems, a point may be removably attached to the arrow shaft using one or more insert components. For example, an insert having a threaded end portion may be affixed within a hollow arrow shaft by inserting at least a portion of the insert into the hollow arrow shaft. A point having a complementary threaded portion may then be threaded into or onto the threaded portion of the insert. Removably attaching the point to the arrow shaft in this manner enables archers to mix and match various points and arrow shafts as may be required for differing hunting or sport archery applications.
The precise axial alignment of the arrow point with the arrow shaft generally depends on the insert and how the insert interfaces with the arrow shaft. Even minor misalignment of the insert and/or point relative to the arrow shaft has the potential to adversely affect the radial alignment (e.g., concentricity) of the arrow point with the arrow shaft. Furthermore, the arrow shaft is subjected to substantially axial impact forces when the arrow point hits a target or other object. These impact forces can potentially damage one or more of the shaft, insert, and point depending on the configuration of these components, necessitating repair or replacement of one or more of these components including the arrow shaft.
Such problems with concentricity and the forces experienced upon impact may be particularly prevalent in arrow assemblies having reduced or small diameter shafts, which reduced or small diameter shafts are discussed in detail below. While standard arrow assemblies may be able to utilize inserts that have a majority or an entirety of the insert in the arrow shaft to receive the majority or entirety of the shank of the point, reduced or small diameter arrow assemblies have a reduced inner diameter that may be unable to accommodate the shank of the point (e.g., a standard point that complies with guidelines set by the Archery Trade Association (ATA)), unless the point has been specifically designed outside of the guidelines of the ATA to fit within an arrow shaft having a reduced inner diameter. Accordingly, at least a portion of the insert and shank of the point must be positioned outside or external to the arrow shaft or an outsert (i.e., an adaptor coupled to the outer diameter of the arrow shaft) must be utilized. However, such configurations may decrease one or more of the strength, stability, and accuracy of the overall arrow assembly as inserts that extend longitudinally outward of the distal end of the arrow shaft and outserts secured to the external surface of the shaft and extend longitudinally outward therefrom are subject to high forces when the arrow assembly contacts a target or other object and may tend to fail, for example, at the interface between the portion of the insert or outsert attached to the arrow shaft. In particular, in conventional inserts and outserts, the portion of the insert or outsert attached to the arrow shaft contacts only one of an inner diameter surface or outer diameter surface of the arrow shaft. Thus, impact forces on the arrow assembly may cause the coupling between the insert or outsert to fail or may cause failure in the arrow shaft itself when the arrow assembly contacts a target or other object.
Furthermore, outserts, which are attached to the outer diameter of the arrow shaft, tend to deviate from the concentricity of the arrow shaft as the outer diameter of the arrow shaft (e.g., a composite arrow shaft) may not have as close dimensional tolerances as the inner diameter of the arrow shaft, which is typically formed around a mandrel.